


I know you by heart

by komhmagnus



Series: Flufftober 2018 [11]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Flufftober, Introspection, M/M, Magnus and Alec adopted a baby girl, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 13:06:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16264805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/komhmagnus/pseuds/komhmagnus
Summary: for flufftober day 11:  heart





	I know you by heart

**Author's Note:**

> title is from Come in With the Rain by Taylor Swift

The first time Maryse held her son, she knew.

When she’d married Robert, she’d thought he was her heart. Not just inside of it, or a small part of it, but the whole thing. She’d been so incredibly happy, so incredibly in love that she would have gladly sacrificed everything for the man. She only hoped he felt the same way--Robert was a complicated man, and she never was quite sure where he stood.  _ Asshole _ , she thought now.

She marvelled at how small Alec was when he was born, just a little baby who needed her and her love and her protection. Maryse knew the first time she held him that she would do anything for her son. In an instant, he became her heart. Izzy and Jace and Max all came, and they were her heart, too.

But somewhere along the way, she’d gotten lost. 

Too many years sharing a bed with a man who could never love her back. Too many years focusing on duty to drown out that pain. Too many years being harder than necessary on her own children. She channeled her love and her pain into protecting them and making them the best Shadowhunters they could be, but somewhere along the way she forgot how to just be there for them.

Not a single day went by that she didn’t regret not stopping Alec’s almost-wedding herself. She’d known Alec didn’t love Lydia. How could she not? She’d had her suspicions that Alec was gay, but never anything to back it up and she certainly wasn’t going to push him. But she was so focused on duty and protecting her childrens’ images as Shadowhunters that she was willing to allow him to cut love out of his life.

But he hadn’t. Magnus Bane barged into the chapel in what Maryse had considered a catastrophe at the time. Magnus Bane represented a threat to her son’s future and Maryse couldn’t bear the thought. But then something remarkable happened.

Alec walked down the aisle and kissed Magnus. A man. A warlock.  _ He chose to fight _ , she’d thought, and she’d never felt more proud. The underlying fear kept nagging at her, though, and she knows she was harsher than she should have been towards Alec. He needed her support and she’d been too afraid to give it to him, then.

She wasn’t a fool, though. Anyone could see how happy Magnus and Alec made each other. Their love was visible in the way their fingers brushed in the Ops Center, in the way Magnus could always elicit a blush during the Downworld Cabinet meetings, in the way Alec pressed soft kisses to Magnus’s cheeks or forehead or lips in the middle of the Institute if he thought no one was looking.

Maryse had told Isabelle once that she hoped she would fight for love like her brother, and she did. She hoped all of her children would fall unapologetically in love and find real happiness. She prayed they never found what she had with Robert. But if they did, she would be there for them and she would love them and she would protect them.

“Mom?” Alec asked, drawing Maryse out of her thoughts. “What’s wrong?”

She blinked and startled when she felt a tear slip down her face. “Nothing, Alec. I just...got lost in thought.”

“What about?” he asked, sitting down beside her as she wiped the tear from her cheek.

She grabbed his hand gently, squeezing. “You and your siblings. I made so many mistakes, and I’m just...I’m so proud of who you’ve all become. I’m so proud of you for fighting for love and doing better than the example your father and I set for you.” There was no use trying to stop the tears now.

“Hey,” he whispered, his eyes wet as well. “Yeah, you made some mistakes. Who hasn’t? I know Magnus and I are going to.” He smiled when Maryse gave a wet laugh. “But we always knew you loved us, and that’s what was most important. I love you, Mom, all of us do.”

“I love you, too, baby,” she whispered and he pulled her into a hug. 

They stayed like that for a few moments, holding each other tight on the couch, before Alec finally broke the silence. “So, are you ready to meet your granddaughter?”  She nodded and Alec stood, taking her hand and gently leading her into the nursery.

Magnus stood over the crib, watching the baby with a fond smile on his face. He smiled at Maryse and reached into the crib to lift her.

“Have you named her yet?” Maryse asked as Magnus placed the baby in her arms.

Magnus and Alec shared a knowing look. “Not officially, but we have some ideas,” Alec said. “I promise, you’ll be the first to know.”

Maryse smiled down at the little girl and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She gurgled in her sleep.  _ Yes _ , Maryse thought.  _ She’s my heart, too, now. _

 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! comments and kudos are appreciated <3  
> find me on tumblr and twitter @banesapothecary


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